The Economic and Social Structure of the Non-Muslims in Sinop in the mid-XIXth Century

The purpose of this study is to reflect the economic and social structures of the non-Muslims living in a small town of the Ottoman Empire.The investigated period, Sinop was the district of Bolu Province where Muslim and non-Muslim people living together, which reflected the same socio-economic features with other cities around. The non-Muslim neighborhoods were outside the city walls where the Reforms were adopted. Non-Muslim people earned their living from the trade they performed and also from other sources. According to the reference books, the annual income of two neighborhoods of the non-Muslim people were above and four neighbourhoods were below the city income rate. Relating to the rules, the taxation was organised according to the economic levels of the people. It was observed that the muslim people living in the city paid more tax than the non-muslims because of the high amount of jizyah that non-muslim paid.